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Saturday, August 8, 2015

Thoughts on Havoc

So for my fantasy games, I'm going to need a fantasy ruleset. I was tempted to go Oldhammer but then I started reading about this game called Havoc by Brent Spivey. So I decided to give it a try...and am I glad I did! Here's an excerpt about the experience from a letter to a friend:

I've
mostly played Warhammer in which "everyone is special so no one is
special" -- most units have standard bearers and musicians, they have a
small benefit (+1 to combat resolution if I remember correctly). In
Havoc - Musicians are game changers. They give the commander (you) the
ability to pass on orders - just like in real life! This is the first
game I've ever seen that musicians really have a purpose. (In fact,
they might be too good!)

Standard
Bearers, likewise, inspire your troops to fight better. A force
without a standard facing off against a force with one is actually at a
pretty big disadvantage. But woe betide the force that loses their
standard to the enemy! Protect it well or your forces may well flee the
field (figuratively).

Speaking
of which, Havoc doesn't have a morale system. Now, normally I find
morale systems necessary and fun. But Havoc doesn't really need it and
adding it wouldn't add anything. At every game I've played it's been
obvious when a force had reached its breaking point. It's a bit like
chess - you know when you're beaten and you resign the game. You could
drag it on and play it out but why not just resign the game and start a
new one? Because of the One List, it's easy to tell that your two
remaining Melee and Shields aren't going to be much of a match for the 3
remaining Great Weapons your enemy has.

The
One List. It's the dragon in the room, so let's talk about it. I
suppose you will either hate it or love it. I've seen people decry the
game (without ever having played it!) for not having rules specific to
fantasy races. Dwarves shouldn't have the same movement as humans,
elves should be masters of the bow, etc.. But in return for not having
those race-specific rules --- you get to use any miniatures you want.
My wife has put together a force of centaurs, mermaids, fairies
and...well, I'm not even sure what a couple of them are! And her list
is equally competitive with my High Men based on a Warhammer Empire
army. Not only competitive - but automatically balanced. So I guess
the question is - do you want to play Warhammer where only specific
units are statted out and there are always cries about the latest cheese
army -- or do you want to learn one set of rules, One List and play
lots of different forces using every fantasy miniature you've ever
conceived of?

That's
a bit of a straw-man argument, of course. There's nothing to keep the
Warhammer player from saying that Mermaids "count as" orcs. But it's
the elegance of the ruleset that really encourages that kind of
innovation and creativity in Havoc.

Elegance
- when was the last time you really enjoyed reading a wargame rule
book? When was the last time you saw sportsmanship embodied in a
rule(Peter Pig does it - I can't think of any others)? When you read
Havoc, you really get drawn into the spirit of the game -- which
basically boils down to 3 things: Inclusion, sportsmanship and fun.
And it provides fun in spades.

My
one ruleset to rule them all? Yeah, I really think it is. It's got
everything I want. Is it without flaw? No - there are some odd holes
in the rules. For instance, while there is a lot written about how to
match up multiple combats, there is nothing that actually explains how
to fight one out. (Common sense guided us through, but guidance and an
example would have been appreciated.) Spell usage for Magus are begging
for the expansion that the core rulebook says is coming soon...but that
was 5 years ago. And while the Giant gets 3 pages of description,
fantasy staples such as a Dragon are lumped under Behemoths. It's not
too bad to build a Dragon -- make it a Flying Behemoth (flying rules are
under Knights Furioso, covering any flying steed), but some guidelines
for giving that a points cost would be nice. (Not a formula - just a
guideline. "Flying" ability for a Behemoth is way different than
"Flying" for a horse (Pegasus))

In
other words - most of my flaws are just in wanting more, more, more.
It's a bit like Full Thrust that way. The basic game is simple and
understandable and fairly well-balanced. So people started tacking on
more and more of the things they loved. Havoc is the same way. I want
Dragons so I'm going to add a Dragon type. I've already considered an
"Elite" type for, yes, Elven archers which simply adds a die to the
Ranged attack. Or Paladins who add a die to melee against undead.

But
the only reason I'm considering that is that the core game rules
provide such a strong foundation that I think that bolting those things
on won't appreciably affect the game. And that's why I love Havoc.